DANIEL: The boss! That's the explanation I had in mind as my mother marched to the CEO's seat and ordered the pest to be taken off her seat.

"You all failed. You've all failed me."

The shock was still visible on their faces, I knew if not for the fact that they were all trying to keep themselves strong, and that there was only one entrance to the hall, with no windows – just transparent tainted glasses – they would have dived out, but the protector guide wouldn't let them.

"I want you to remember that none of you have a damn hold of this company. None of you have a single share in this company. It’s all mine! It belongs to me and my family! I appointed you all as board of directors for the sake of it; I have the power to dissolve and terminate your appointments this very minute. All of you!”

She fumed in anger, and the sound of termination brought fears into their eyes. Sitting at the far end of the table was a man who had a large tummy; he spoke out first.

"Take this filthy rag out of this meeting. Lock him up. I'm not done with him yet."

I took a careful look at Wilson; he wasn't himself. He had not gotten back his confidence. He was shattered, still trying to believe if it was indeed my mother standing before him or not. Before they took him out, I made them halt; I walked up to him and whispered into his ears;

"Who has the power now, friend?"

I chuckled when I heard him swallow a lump of saliva.

"Take him out! Adopted fool!"

They kept apologising, every member of the management team. My mum remained silent. She simply dismissed the meeting and instructed the media to meet her up in the academy.

NADIA: If you observe well enough, you would notice that this story of ours is approaching its climax. We were gaining back our rights; we were winning back our seats.

Advertisement

*****

Brenda was addressing the whole academy in the large hall, putting forth new rules and regulations, and increasing the tution fees, which aroused complains and murmurs. To earn our certificates, we were even supposed to pay an additional fee... You can imagine!

Few minutes into her speech, the media team rushed in. I could spell surprise on Brenda’s face.

"Who asked for these? Get out! Security, get these people out of here!"

The media men began to take pictures, flashlights brewed the podium. The security men did not move an inch; they remained where they stood.

"Security, I said get these people out of here!!!"

Slowly, my heart throbbed so fast, not for myself but for Brenda and Eucharia. Daniel entered first, from the back of the podium, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What is this? What is this riffraff doing on my podium? What is...?”

Her mouth got stuck immediately. Her legs began to shake on the high heels she wore. Eucharia stood up and slowly backed away. The crowd didn't understand what was going on. Mrs. Olutayo wasn't visible yet; only her enemies could see her.

Slowly, she came out of the dark. Confusion arose. Cameras and shutters brimmed, murmurs turned into shouts.

"Drop that microphone and get off that podium!"

That was an order Brenda didn't dare oppose.

Eucharia disappeared immediately. Brenda could not move. I understood what she felt; her legs could not carry her. She shook till she sat on the bare tiles.

Mrs. Olutayo smiled and took the microphone;

"This academy is solemnly under the rule of Kayode's kitchen. And as the CEO, I dissolve every right Eucharia and Brenda have over this academy. Henceforth, they are both regular students."

My mind became settled immediately; but hey, it was still troubled. There was one last battle left: There was a competition coming up, one I can’t afford to loose.